Lionel Messi is set to extend his stay at Barcelona after he agreed to sign a new five-year contract with the Catalan giants.
ESPN reported on Wednesday that the 34-year-old who is currently a free agent was ready to extend his 21-year stay with the club that brought him into limelight
Messi who recently won the Copa America, his first major international trophy, with Argentina became a free agent in June 2021 and there were speculations that he was unhappy with the current Barca project and was ready for a new challenge.
However things have turned to be opposite as Barca's all-time top scorer changed tune especially with the return of Joan Laporta as club president.
Laporta has meanwhile been trying to reduce their wage bill in order to keep Messi and stay within La Liga’s strict financial control rules.
Messi’s previous contract, signed in 2017, was the most lucrative in world sport according to a January report in newspaper El Mundo.